Bio

Liang Xu is Associate Professor at the Peking University School of International Studies and serves as Secretary-General of the Center for African Studies. Liang’s research and teaching interests include African social history, Chinese diaspora in Africa, and China-Africa relations. Liang obtained a Ph.D. in African history from Harvard University (2010-2017). Liang received his Bachelor of Arts in International Relations in 2005 from Peking University, where he also completed his first doctorate in International Relations in 2010. Liang has published articles, book chapters, and reviews in African Affairs, Journal of African History, The China Quarterly, The Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics, Economic History of Developing Regions (South Africa), West Asia and Africa (Chinese), and Annual Review of African Studies in China (Chinese). Liang currently serves as an executive board member of the Chinese-in-Africa/Africans-in-China Research Network, the largest global network of scholars in China-Africa studies. He is also a board member of the Chinese Society of African Historical Studies and a board member of the Overseas Chinese History Society of China.

Education

Ph.D., History, Harvard University, 2017 

Ph.D., Law (International Politics), Peking University, 2010

B. A., Law (International Politics), Peking University, 2005

Research Areas

African history, Chinese diaspora, and China–Africa relations

Undergraduate 

    Reading and Comprehension of Classics (In Chinese)

    Introduction to African Studies (In Chinese)

    China and Africa: Global Encounters in History and the Present (In English)

Graduate 

    Thesis Writing Seminar (In English)

    African Nationalism (In Chinese)

    Selected Theoretical Issues in Asian and African Studies (In Chinese, Contributor)

    Research Methods in Social Sciences (In Chinese, Contributor)

    Comprehensive African Studies (In English, Contributor)

Articles in English

Emmanuel Akyeampong and Liang Xu*. 2023. “Chinese Technology and the Transformation of the Rural Economy in Ghana: Evidence from Galamsey in the Ashanti and Savannah Regions.” African Affairs 122 (488): 329-351.

Liang Xu. 2022. “Engendering China–Africa Encounters: Chinese Family Firms, Black Women Workers and the Gendered Politics of Production in South Africa.” The China Quarterly 250: 356-375.

Liang Xu. 2021. “Chinese Investment and the Rise of 'Made in Africa' Fashion Production.” Fashion Theory 25 (7): 975-982.

Liang Xu. 2020. “The Comforts of Home: A Historical Study of Family Well-being among Chinese Migrants in South Africa.” Asian Ethnicity 21 (4): 507-525.

Liang Xu. 2019. “Factory, Family, and Industrial Frontier: A Socioeconomic Study of Chinese Clothing Firms in Newcastle, South Africa.” Economic History of Developing Regions 34 (3): 300-319.

Liang Xu. 2017. “Cyrildene Chinatown, Suburban Settlement and Ethnic Economy in Post-Apartheid Johannesburg.” In Young-Chan Kim ed., China and Africa: A New Paradigm of Global Business, London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 81-104.

Emmanuel Akyeampong and Liang Xu*. 2015. “The Three Phases/Faces of China in Independent Africa: Re-conceptualizing China-Africa Engagement.” In Justin Yifu Lin and Celestin Monga eds., Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics Volume II: Policies and Practices, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 762-779.

Liang Xu. 2015. “Historical Lessons, Common Challenges and Mutual Learning: Assessing China-Africa Cooperation in Environment Protection.” In Garth Shelton, Yazini April, and Li Anshan eds., FOCAC 2015: A New Beginning of China-Africa Relations, Pretoria, SA: Africa Institute of South Africa, 425-445.

Articles in Chinese

许亮、章煦：《多学科视野下的非洲矿业研究述评》，王逸舟主编：《南大区域国别研究（第三辑）》，北京：中国社会科学出版社，2024年，第76-110页。(Liang Xu and Zhang Xu, “A Historiographical Review of African Mining Studies: A Multidisciplinary Perspective,” in Yizhou Wang ed., Nanjing University Area Studies Review, Beijing: Social Science Literature Press, 2024, pp. 76-110.)

刘少楠、许亮：《“科学”与“政治”之间：20世纪国际非洲研究的知识生产》，《清华大学学报（哲学社会科学版）》2024年第3期，第48-61页。(Shaonan Liu and Liang Xu, “Between ‘Science’ and ‘Politics’: Knowledge Production in African Studies during the 20th Century,” Journal of Tsinghua University, Vol. 39, No. 3, 2024, pp. 48-61.)

许亮：《非洲工业化与华人工厂》，刘海方、王进杰主编：《中国非洲研究评论（第十辑）》，北京：中国商务出版社2023年版，第355-370页。(Liang Xu, “African Industrialization and Chinese Factories,” in Haifang Liu and Jinjie Wang eds., Chinese Annual Review of African Studies, Beijing: China Commerce and Trade Press, 2023, pp. 355-370.)

许亮：《国外非洲劳工史研究述评》， 《国际政治研究》2023年第3期，第133-160页。(Liang Xu, “A Historiographical Review of African Labor History Studies,” Journal of International Studies, No. 3, 2023, pp. 133-160.)

许亮：《中非民间交往中的华人酋长现象探究》，《西亚非洲》2023年第3期，第51-73页。(Liang Xu, “A Study of Chinese Chiefs in Africa from the Perspective of People-to-People Exchanges,” West Asia and Africa, No. 3, 2003, pp. 51-73.)

许亮：《非洲与全球化》，王正毅主编：《反思全球化：理论、历史与趋势》，北京：社会科学文献出版社2023年，第308-328页。(Liang Xu, “Africa and Economic Globalization,” in Zhengyi Wang ed., Rethinking Globalization: Theories, Histories, and Prospects, Beijing: Social Sciences Literature Press, 2023, pp. 308-328.)

许亮：《试析非洲酋长制的复兴》，《中央民族大学学报》2022年第6期，第106-117页。(Liang Xu, “A Study of the Revival of African Chieftaincy,” Journal of Minzu University of China, No. 6, 2022, pp. 106-117. )

许亮：《日本与南非关系研究综述：兼论对日本外交的新思考》，李安山主编：《中国非洲研究评论（2012年）》，北京：社会科学文献出版社2013年，第388-406页。(Liang Xu, “A Review of the Study of Japan-South Africa Relations and a reflection of Japanese Diplomacy,” in Anshan Li ed., Chinese Annual Review of African Studies, Beijing: Social Science Literature Press, 2013, pp. 388-406.)

许亮：《美国援助非洲政策评析》，《西亚非洲》2010年第7期，第20-25页。(Liang Xu, “An Evaluation of US Foreign Aid Policy toward Africa,” West Asia and Africa, No. 7, 2010, pp. 20-25.)

许亮：《中国的苏丹研究综述（1949-2006）》，《西亚非洲》2007年第2期，第66-71页。(Liang Xu, “A Historiographical Review of Sudanese Studies in China, 1949-2006,” West Asia and Africa, No. 2, 2007, pp. 66-71.)

Book reviews and others 

Liang Xu. 2023. “The Past and Present of Chinese Migration to Africa,” Journal of African History 64 (2): 310-312.

Liang Xu. 2023. “Power Fantasies: The Truth about Chinese ‘Chiefs’ in West Africa,” Sixth Tone, July 23, https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1013359.

Liang Xu. 2022. “[Book Review] Search for Sweetness: Women's Mobile Life in China and Lesotho.” The China Quarterly 251: 957-958. 

刘海方、林丰民、沙宗平、许亮、王进杰：《非洲的历史新方位与中非合作共赢》，《世界知识》2023年第1期，第14-25页。(Haifang Liu, Fengmin Lin, Zongping Sha, Liang Xu, and Jinjie Wang, “New Directions for African Development and China-Africa Cooperation for Mutual Benefits,” World Affairs, No. 1, 2023, pp. 14-25.)

许亮：《从“未闻之地”到“泪之地”》，《解放日报》2022年12月17日。(Liang Xu, “Review of Land of Tears by Robert Harms,” Jiefang Daily, December 17, 2022.)

许亮：《苏丹达尔富尔问题研究新视角》，《西亚非洲》2007年第11期，第75-78页。(Liang Xu, “Book Review: New Perspectives in the Study of the Darfur Issue,” West Asia and Africa, No. 11, 2007, pp. 75-78.)

Recent Grants

Principal Investigator, The Africa Volume of “Global Migration and Exchanges and Mutual Learning Between Civilizations from the Historical Perspective,” a project supported by the Major Program of the Chinese National Social Science Fund, 2024-2029

Principal Investigator, “Industrialization in Southern Africa,” The Peking University Institute of Area Studies, 2024

Co-Principal Investigator, “China-Africa from the Grassroots: Chinese Companies and African Traditional Kingdoms,” The Harvard-Yenching Institute, Cross-National Interdisciplinary Research Grant, 2023-25

Principal Investigator, “Chinese New Immigrants and African Industrialization,” Chinese National Social Science Fund, 2020-25

Selected Awards

2024 Yang Fuching–Wang Yangyuan Teaching Excellence Award

2023 Peking University Excellent Teaching Award

2022 Peking University Outstanding Teacher's Union Individual

2021 Peking University Outstanding Individual in Student Affairs

2020 First Prize, Peking University Teaching Competition (also received Best Teaching Plan, Best Presentation, and Students’ Choice Awards)

2019 Peking University Outstanding Class Advisor Award

Service

Executive Board Member, Chinese-in-Africa/Africans-in-China Research Network (2023-present)

Board Member, Chinese Society for African Historical Studies (2022-present)

Board Member, Chinese Society for the History of Overseas Chinese (2021-present)

Secretary General, Peking University Center for African Studies (2019-present)

English Editor, The Journal of International Studies (2018-present)

Reviewer

African Affairs, Journal of African History, The China Quarterly, Third World Quarterly, International Migration Review, Journal of Chinese Overseas, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, China International Strategy Review, 《世界历史》、《西亚非洲》、《世界民族》、《国际政治研究》、《开放时代》、《区域国别学》